<a href="/profile/lilnasx" class="text-word" target="_blank" >Lil Nas X</a> <a href="https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/lil-nas-x-reflects-on-his-come-up-in-light-of-making-billboard-history-news.86907.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">continues to make history </a>with his recent inclusion on the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2019/11/13/highest-paid-country-acts-2019-lil-nas-x-debuts-luke-bryan-tops-list/#5c36d12139b7" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Forbes &#8220;Highest Paid Country Acts&#8221; list.</a> The &#8220;Old Town Road&#8221; rapper exploded this year with the country-trap hybrid track amid controversy that the song was not a &#8220;real&#8221; country song, which lead to its <a href="https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/lil-nas-x-speaks-out-about-removal-from-billboard-country-charts-news.75987.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">removal from the Billboard country charts.</a> However, <a href="/profile/Nas" class="text-word" target="_blank" >Nas</a> came storming back with country singer, Billy Ray Cyrus, on the remix to produce a song &#8220;country&#8221; enough for the genre gatekeepers. The original and the remix blew up and broke records, and turned LIl Nas X into a bonafide superstar. However, his monstrous hit song and surrounding controversy were not the only reasons Nas made headlines this year. The 20-year-old officially <a href="https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/lil-nas-x-comes-out-in-pride-post-references-c7osure-as-proof-news.84507.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">came out as gay this summer on Twitter,</a> citing his song &#8220;C7osure&#8221; and the accompanying video as hints he gave to fans regarding his sexuality. While <a href="https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/lil-nas-x-on-backlash-after-coming-out-as-gay-im-not-angry-or-anything-news.84926.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">his coming out received some backlash</a>, something many queer artists have dealt with in the spotlight, 2019 was still his year, and now he&#8217;s made history in a new way as the first black, gay man to be featured in the aforementioned Forbes list.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://editor.urbanlinx.net/wp-content/uploads/userfiles/32/52/405232_fa52f06e7ecfa6e5367605a680ba2d7a.jpg" alt='Lil Nas X Makes History As First Gay, Black Man On "Country Stars" Forbes List'><figcaption>Jason Kempin/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
Forbes wrote in the article that &#8220;Lil Nas X is both the first openly gay act and the first person of color to make it.&#8221; While feats like these should definitely be celebrated, it seems absurd that neither a gay person nor a person of color have ever succeeded in country to such a degree that they would be eligible for this list. Now, though, Lil Nas X&#8217;s success and accomplishments have hopefully opened more doors for gay artists and artists of colour to feel encouraged to venture into the country scene. Here&#8217;s to making more history in the future for the trailblazer.